It is always a bit paradoxical to discuss articles like this over a message board where we compete for votes and the top comment haha.
I often think that happiness is a shallow goal, and you leave a lot on the table if you are unwilling to suffer. Success and achievements are answers to that old question 'why?', they justify our existence.
Contrary to that, to paraphrase Gene Wolfe from Book of the Long Sun: "When something is good it needs no justification."
another relevant quote (just because!) from East of Eden:
"On one side you have warmth and companionship and sweet understanding, and on the other - cold, lonely greatness. There you make your choice. I'm glad I chose mediocrity, but how am I to say what reward might have come with the other? None of my children will be great either, except perhaps Tom. He's suffering over the choosing right now. It's a painful thing to watch."
I often think that happiness is a shallow goal, and you leave a lot on the table if you are unwilling to suffer. Success and achievements are answers to that old question 'why?', they justify our existence.
Contrary to that, to paraphrase Gene Wolfe from Book of the Long Sun: "When something is good it needs no justification."
another relevant quote (just because!) from East of Eden:
"On one side you have warmth and companionship and sweet understanding, and on the other - cold, lonely greatness. There you make your choice. I'm glad I chose mediocrity, but how am I to say what reward might have come with the other? None of my children will be great either, except perhaps Tom. He's suffering over the choosing right now. It's a painful thing to watch."